by Jerry Tarantola, NYCgrind.com

Thomas Wan and Tony Robles won their respective divisions on the Ozone Billiards Predator Tour’s June 5-6 stop, taking first place in the amateur and open/pro events, respectively. The tour’s ninth stop of the season was hosted by Master Billiards in Queens, NY, where 66 of the strongest players in the tri-state area came out to compete at the $1,000-added event to show they have the grit to fight through the tough field.

Dinko Busanich showed a lot of heart in the amateur division, going through several gritty matches as he fought through the winners’ bracket to earn a spot in the finals. Busanich went through Carl Yusef Khan 7-3, Mike Panzarella 7-6, Jerry Tarantola 7-6, Daniel Dagotdot 7-5, Thomas Wan 7-4, and Mike Hertz 7-5 to reach the finals.

On the one-loss side, there were a lot of warriors battling for the chance to come from behind to make a statement. While there were stand-out performances by Raphael DaBreo, John Hacsi, Dave Shlemperis, Arturo Reyes, Lionel Rivera, Michael Hertz, and Daniel Dagotdot, only one player reached the finals unscathed. Long-time tour player Wan was impressive by defeating Mike Wong 7-3, Rivera 7-5, Stewart Warnock 7-6, Rivera again 7-5, Shlemperis, and Hertz 7-4 to get a shot at Busanich in the finals. There Wan was dominant by putting up a solid 9-5 score to capture his first Ozone Billiards Predator Tour win.

Early on in the open/pro 10-ball event, Master Billiards house pro George “Ginky” Sansouci made a big statement by playing nearly flawless pool in a dominant 8-2 victory over reigning U.S. Open champion Mika “Iceman” Immonen. Immonen won his next match 8-6 against a game Arturo Reyes before getting bumped out of the event by Marc “Spain” Vidal.

On the lower half of the bracket Tony “The Silent Assassin” Robles was silently taking down his competition, going through Ron Mason, Zion Zvi, Marc Vidal, and then an impressive 8-4 win over Jeremy Sossei to reach the hot seat. Sossei bounced back from the loss to Robles by defeating visiting player Marco Tschudi of Switzerland 8-3 to set up a rematch with Robles. Tschudi was turning heads with his fast-paced game with wins over Mike Miller 8-4, Zvi 8-5, Sansouci 8-3, and Vidal 8-6 before Sossei eliminated him. In the finals, the Ozone Billiards Predator Tour founder and battle-tested veteran Robles defeated Sossei 8-4 for his second win of the season.

The tour’s ninth stop of the season was hosted by Master Billiards in Queens, NY, where 66 of the strongest players in the tri-state area came out to compete at the $1,000-added event to show they have the grit to fight through the tough field.

Robles and Sossei

by InsidePOOL Staff

Geoffrey Bauer worked his way through the west side of the chart to take top honors at the May 1 installment of the Tri-State Tour. Hosted by Master Billiards in Sunnyside, NY, the $750-added, B-D stop attracted 30 players.

Bauer suffered a second-round loss to Andrew Kane 7-2 and fought his way through the one-loss side. Kane, though, breezed through to the winners’ side final four, where he faced Emily Duddy in a hill-hill match that he ended up taking 7-6. Moving on to the hot seat match, Kane played Billy Cheng, who had just bested Kevin Early 7-4. It was another hill-hill match for Kane, and he again won 7-6.

On the west side, Bauer faced down Chris Karp 7-5 and Sam Li 7-6 before meeting up with Duddy after her loss to Kane. Duddy fell to Bauer 7-5 and took home fifth place. Tying with her was Rajesh Vannala, who was bested by Kevin Early 8-5. In the quarterfinals, Bauer took on Early and sent him home in fourth with a 7-4 victory.

After a tight 7-5 win over Cheng, Bauer moved on to the finals to face Kane for the second time that day. He wreaked revenge on Kane, winning the final match with a strong 9-4 score.

Geoffrey Bauer worked his way through the west side of the chart to take top honors at the May 1 installment of the Tri-State Tour.

by InsidePOOL Staff

Twenty-four players gathered to vie for the top prize at the Tri-State Tour’s April 10 stop, and it was Basdeo Sookhia who went undefeated to claim it. The $750-added 9-ball event was hosted by Master Billiards in Queens, NY.

Sookhia cruised to the winners’ side final four, where he faced off against Raphael DeBreo and sent him packing to the one-loss side with an easy 7-1 win. He then moved on to face Gary Murgia, who had just bested Raul Reyes 7-2. The hot seat match was another rout, with Sookhia earning the win 7-1.

On the west side of the chart, DeBreo came out the winner of a hill-hill bout with Rajesh Vannala 7-6, while Reyes also came out ahead of his match with Ramilo Tanglao 7-5. These two met in the quarterfinal match, and it was DeBreo who advanced 7-4.

DeBreo also managed to fight off Murgia in the semifinals, sending him home in third place with a 7-0 whitewashing. In the finals, though, Sookhia and DeBreo fought to 5-all before Sookhia surged ahead to take the final two racks and the title.

Results:
1st Basdeo Sookhia $680
2nd Raphael DeBreo $350
3rd Gary Murgia $150
4th Raul Reyes $100

by InsidePOOL Staff

Twenty-eight players showed up for the February 6 installment of the Tri-State Tour, and Duane Toney bested them all to win the title. Hosted by Master Billiards in Queens, NY, the C-D handicapped stop featured a $750-added prize purse.

Toney went undefeated through the field, defeating Charles Vergara 6-4 in the final four of the winners’ bracket. Meeting him in the hot seat match was Raul Reyes Jr., fresh off a 6-4 victory over Kapriel Delimelkonoglu. Their match was as close as possible, but Toney prevailed 6-5, sending Reyes to the west side.

On the left side of the chart, Vergara recovered from his earlier loss, eliminating Mike Garreta 6-4, while Delimelkonoglu was ousted by Wilfredo Albay 6-3. In the quarterfinal match, Albay pressed on, sending Vergara home in fourth place 6-3.

Twenty-eight players showed up for the February 6 installment of the Tri-State Tour, and Duane Toney bested them all to win the title. Hosted by Master Billiards in Queens, NY, the C-D handicapped stop featured a $750-added prize purse.

Results:
1st Duane Toney $615
2nd Raul Reyes Jr. $340
3rd Wilfredo Albay $215
4th Charles Vergara $110
5th Kapriel Delimelkonoglu $65
Mike Garreta

by InsidePOOL Staff

Though he had undergone surgery only three weeks prior, Paul Everton couldn’t resist the urge to get out November 21 and play some pool. He went to the Tri-State Tour’s stop at Master Billiards in Queens, NY, joining 27 other players at the B-D tournament, and took home the winner’s share of the $750-added prize purse with his finals victory over Justice Eagan.

Eagan was responsible for sending Everton to the one-loss side of the chart in his quest for the hot seat. After a 7-4 defeat of Everton, Eagan moved on to face Rene Villalobos, who had just bested Romeo Singh hill-hill, in the hot seat match. Another double-hill bout ensued, with Eagan moving onto easy street while Villalobos was sent west.

Tour regular Emily Duddy was working her way through the one-loss side, notching wins over Ronny Cochachi 7-6 and Masatoshi Ebihara 7-4 before meeting Singh, fresh off his winners’ side match with Villalobos. After she trounced Singh 7-2, she moved on to the quarterfinal match against Everton, who had survived a hill-hill nail-biter against Ron Mason. There Duddy’s tournament ended, as Everton advanced with a 7-3 win.

Though he had undergone surgery only three weeks prior, Paul Everton couldn’t resist the urge to get out November 21 and play some pool. (L-R) Justice Eagan, Paul Everton

A 7-4 victory over Villalobos propelled Everton to the final match against Eagan. This rematch was a long, drawn-out battle, in which only ball in hand at hill-hill determined the victor—Everton had a dead combination on the 9 ball and made it to win the final match 9-8.

Results:
1st Paul Everton $650
2nd Justice Eagan $345
3rd Rene Villalobos $220
4th Emily Duddy $100
5th Ron Mason $55
Romeo Singh

by InsidePOOL Staff

Thirty players showed up for the October 17 installment of the Tri-State Tour, but it was Yomaylin “Smiley” Feliz who walked away the big winner, taking her first title on the tour. The event was hosted by Master Billiards in Queens, NY, and featured a $500-added prize purse.

Going unchallenged through the entire event, Feliz matched up with Duane Toney and sent him to the left side of the chart 7-4 to reach the hot seat match. Her opponent there was Nicholas Chan, who was just coming off a 6-5 defeat of James DeGiosafatto. Chan fell short against Feliz 7-4 and went west to try and stage a rematch in the finals.

Thirty players showed up for the October 17 installment of the Tri-State Tour, but it was Yomaylin “Smiley” Feliz who walked away the big winner.

Results:
1st Yomaylin Feliz $650
2nd Paul Everton $330
3rd Nicholas Chan $190
4th Diana Rojas $100
5th James DeGiosafatto $50
Duane Toney

by Lea Andrews

June 6 was John Alicea’s day to shine, and his undefeated run through a field of 48 earned him first place on the Tri-State Tour stop. The $1,500-added double points A-D event was hosted by Master Billiards in Sunnyside, NY, and was sponsored by Sterling Games and Ozone Billiards.

The tournament featured separate brackets for A-B and C-D players in the earlier rounds, and a mixed field for the later rounds. Alicea plowed his way through the winners’ side of the A/B bracket, ultimately taking down Tony Eglesias 8-7. Meanwhile, Alicea’s opponent for the hot seat match, C-ranked Alex Berszinn, was working his way through the C/D bracket, ending with a 6-3 win over Nicholas Cahn.

On the one-loss side, still in separate brackets, players were fighting to get to the mixed-field bracket. In the A-B bracket, Tony Panzarella earned his spot with a 7-6 win over Stuart Warnock, while Bernie Chua earned the C-D spot with an 8-2 win over Ron Mason.

The mixed-field bracket pitted B+-ranked Panzarella against Chua, who moved up to a D+ during the tournament, and Eglesias against Cahn. Panzarella and Eglesias moved on with 9-7 and 7-6 wins, respectively, and their face-off was set.

Meanwhile, in the hot-seat match, Alicea dominated Berszinn 10-6, sending him to meet the victor of the Panzarella/Eglesias match, which turned out to be Eglesias with a 7-5 win. Eglesias was ready for his rematch with Alicea, but he needed to get through Berszinn—he took the match hill-hill and put Berszinn in third.

For Eglesias to win the event, he would need to reach 8 games first, at which point the race would be extended to 10, while undefeated Alicea would win if he reached 8 games first. Eglesias got to a 5-1 and then 6-2 lead, but Alicea tied it at 6. Eglesias took the next five racks in a row, but Alicea, in whom many see the spark of a future world champion, was not going to let the race go long—playing with the skill that had garnered him his A+ ranking, he took the next two games for the win.

June 6 was John Alicea’s day to shine, and his undefeated run through a field of 48 earned him first place on the Tri-State Tour stop.

Results:
1st John Alicea $1,190
2nd Tony Eglesias $710
3rd Alex Berszinn $420
4th Mike Panzarella $250
5th Nicholas Cahn $160
Bernie Chua
7th Stuart Warnock $120
Ron Mason
9th Robert Kite $90
Brian Hunter
Dan Li
Jeff Dworzanski

by Alison M. Fischer

On May 30-31, the Predator 9-ball Tour took over Master Billiards in Queens, NY, for their third A-D event of the season. This event attracted 60 of the best amateurs from around the New York area, such as John Alicea, Michael Yednak, Dan Cintron, Jose Cruz, and Jay Chiu, with Alicea ending up winning his first Predator Tour event.

In this format, the C-D players played against each other on the bottom half of the bracket, while the A-B players took the top, in a handicapped race to 7 with the lower-ranked player spotted games on the wire.

After defeating Shorty Santiago, William Finnegan, and John Chong, Ed Hugh faced off against young gun Alicea in a match that Alicea dominated 7-4. Rising to the top of the winners’ bracket on the C-D side, Jay Chiu defeated Ron Mason by a score of 7-4 to move on to the hot seat match against Alicea. This match went hill-hill; however, in the final game, Alicea’s firepower kept him on top.

Jose Cruz came a long way through the one-loss bracket, winning ten matches to land in the finals against Alicea after crushing Jay Chiu. In the final match, Cruz and the undefeated Alicea met in a final race to 9 in which Cruz got 2 games on the wire. The score seesawed to hill-hill before Cruz got out of line on the final 9 ball. He went for a full-table bank shot and missed, leaving the match and win for Alicea.

This event attracted 60 of the best amateurs from around the New York area, such as John Alicea, Michael Yednak, Dan Cintron, Jose Cruz, and Jay Chiu, with Alicea ending up winning his first Predator Tour event.

Results:
1st John Alicea $1,000
2nd Jose Cruz $650
3rd Jay Chiu $500
4th Michael Yednak $375
5th Ed Hugh $225
Ron Mason
7th John Chong $150
Arturo Reyes
9th Dan Cintron $100
Juan Guzman
Alberto Estevez
John Hacsi

photo courtesy NYCGrind.com

by Lea Andrews

Famed Q-Master Billiards in Virginia Beach, VA, hosted the 2009 VA State 8-Ball Championship May 16. With 32 players vying for the win, the competition was fierce, but Mike Painter stayed strong, outlasting the field and walking away with the cash, the title, and entry to the U.S. Open 9-Ball Championships in October.

Painter was undefeated up until the hot seat match, when he came up against Eric Moore. Moore and Painter had just sent Nigel Francis and Chris Futrell west, respectively, with matching 5-3 scores, and although Painter was able to reach the hill against Moore, it was Moore who closed out the match 5-4.

On the left side of the bracket, Francis met up with Troy Miller, who bested him 5-3, while Futrell was able to come out on top of a hill-hill match against Curtis Coleman. Against Miller, though, Futrell was unable to mark up a game, and Miller went on to face Painter in the semifinal match.

Painter’s hill-hill loss to Moore perhaps spurred him on as he fought to get back to the finals, and he did so with a convincing 5-1 win, relegating Miller to third place.

In the true double-elimination finals, Painter would have to win two sets to claim first, but his opponent was not going to make it easy for him. Moore fought to end the finals with one set, taking it hill-hill just like their last match. In this match, though, it was Painter who sunk the final 8 ball, pushing the second set and putting them off on equal footing. But it was Painter who gained the most ground, notching up wins and clinching the victory with a final score of 5-2.

Famed Q-Master Billiards in Virginia Beach, VA, hosted the 2009 VA State 8-Ball Championship May 16.

Results:
1st Mike Painter $500
2nd Eric Moore $300
3rd Troy Miller $200
4th Chris Futrell $150
5th Nigel Francis $100
Curtis Coleman
7th Rey Jan Carmona $75
Dave White

by Jose Burgos

Joey Testa took home another Blaze 9-Ball Tour title April 5 with a finals victory over Mike Miller. The tour was hosted by Master Billiards in New York City, NY, where a small but strong field came out to play.

Leading the top half of the bracket was Rob Pole with wins over Bob Madara 7-5, Darwin Vergara 7-2, and Miller 7-2. Meeting him in the hot seat match, Testa scored victories over Michael Yednak 7-3, Rene Villalobos 7-2, Eddie Abraham 7-6, and Jorge Rodriquez 7-3.

Joey Testa took home another Blaze 9-Ball Tour title April 5 with a finals victory over Mike Miller.

The hot seat match went double-hill, and when all was said and done, it was Testa who managed to pull off the 7-6 win. Waiting for Pole on the one-loss side was, who had suffered his first loss to Pole 7-2. Now it was Miller’s time, and he reached the finals with a 7-4 score. In the finals, Miller had to defeat Testa twice to win it all, but Testa brought his A game and won the match and the tournament 7-5.

Results:
1st Joey Testa $750
2nd Mike Miller $375
3rd Rob Pole $200